Need help to start new detailing business

[13razorbackfan]

Hello all...

I've been on many message boards since pretty much the beginning of message boards and still a member of message boards for my F250's, my Mustangs, my sports boards with Arkansas Razorbacks, my Lawnsite board and everything in between. So I always find good boards such as this one and stick to it and become immersed in them for years and years. All that being said:

I am the current owner of a small 5 person Landscape and Lawn care company. I service over 200 properties. However during the fall and winter in my area things obviously slow way way down. I have pondered becoming an auto detalier for years but just so happens that a current an employee I hired this past season does detailing on the side and has for the past few years. So I figured why shouldn't I get into it as well and I could give him a full time job year around. I am obsessed with cleaning vehicles. I currently own a 2013 F250 Lariat Crewcab 6.7 powerstroke diesel 4x4, a 2016 F250 Lariat Crewcab 6.7 powerstroke diesel 4x4 with FX4 package and a brand new 2019 Mustang GT Premium heavily optioned with a special optioned Ford paint code. Just traded a 2018 Mustang in for the new 2019 but I digress.

I currently have a 5 years lease on a 5 garage door bay warehouse that is rather large. I believe it used to be used for working on semi-trucks. Right now I keep all my lawn mowing and maintenance equipment and trailers inside along with my 2 trucks and drive the car home every evening. However at any given time I can pull the 2 trucks out and that would leave me 3 very large bays for doing detailing work. Now I am not an expert on detailing far from it in fact. I know just enough to be dangerous. I do my vehicles but have never done one for money but I would like that to change.

The employee I mentioned gave me a list of stuff that a gentleman, he follows on Youtube, uses. It's mostly small bottle off the shelf type stuff which is fine however that leads me to the first of a few questions:

Since I am going to be making a 100% full go of this I would imagine I need to buy these products in large quantities and in concentrated form. Would that be correct?
Also I am currently having the gentleman who built my Lawn website build this this website. I am going to be keeping the names similar however for the first year I am going to run everything through my lawn care business as far as taxes, payroll, etc...go. Then if it all works out going to create an umbrella corporation and fit both under the common name.

So if you were in my shoes, had to do it all over knowing what you know now, have a large warehouse to work out of, 5 employees, access to capital, what would you have done? What do you recommend I do? What products and in what quantity should I purchase them? We have a nice Ryobi gas powered pressure washer that seems to do really well. I have a 7" DA with a polishing pad. I have a small but effective car vacuum. Where do I go from here? I know I need the ph neutral soap, microfiber towels, carnuba waxes, tire and wheel cleaner, wash mits, I have plenty of blowers to blow off rinsed vehicles, several 5 gallon buckets with grit guards, etc...what else do I need and in what quantity? I see where I can order many products right here in large quantity so that's definitely helpful.

Any help guys would be MUCH appreciated trust me!

[13razorbackfan]

Also meant to mention I want to get into paint correction and protection through Ceramic coatings as well. I recently compounded a coworkers 2014 black mustang to take out a ton of scratches and swirl marks as well as filled in rock chips then wet sanded 1500/2000/3000, compounded with DA and Meguiar's 105 then wiped off with microfiber then polished with Meguiar's 205 then wiped and buffed. Car looked night and day better. Still not perfect but for first time and on soft black paint from Ford it looked really good. I want to get into that as well. I recently had a local company put several layers of Jade 9h on my 2019 Mustang, 2016 F250 and is currently doing my 2013 black F250 now. The Mustang and 2016 white F250 came out spectacular.

I have been doing lots of research and even asked the gentleman doing the Ceramic coatings how to maintain and cure time etc...noticed today, its been 5 full days since Ceramic was applied to Mustang, that it was really dusty with what appeared to be pollen so I just used a microfiber towel to wipe off. Everywhere I have read says that 7 days to 21 days before washing. So if dirty would it be ok to run it through my local car wash and use the no-rinse spray to rinse dust/debris off and then wipe off with microfiber towel? I want to make sure I don't mess anything up with the coating it was pretty expensive.

[A-train]

Congrats on your new venture. I'm sure others will chime in with specifics, however, I think the most beneficial thing you and your employee could do would be to attend a training class for a couple of days. This will give you access to tools, chemicals, technique, and business ideas. The upfront cost will most likely save you tons of time and money down the road. Good luck to you.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Autogeekonline mobile app

[Mike Phillips]

Hello all...

I've been on many message boards since pretty much the beginning of message boards

Me too.


My advice would be the same advice I gave in this thread yesterday, start reading at post #6


https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...t=#post1659732


And specifically the advice I gave in post #7, this part,

If you can, go to Mobile Tech Expo in Orlando, Florida in January. I'm teaching 8 classes this year and there are also other great classes you can take.


This is the best bang for your buck for anyone NEW to detailing for profit. Find a way to get there and LEARN. And network too.


2020 Mobile Tech Expo Class Schedule for Education Day on Thursday in Orlando, Florida

[Vanquish Auto]

I agree with the above statement. I would attend the detailing boot camp and bring your employees with you. I would not worry about coatings or paint correction in the beginning until you have been properly trained. A lot can go wrong in those areas and you don’t have the experience yet to deal with those problems yet. I would recommend just doing basic details until you attend the class or get more experience.

[Mike Phillips]

I have a 7" DA with a polishing pad.

I would research all of the other detailing classes on the market and try to find as many pictures as I share of my classes showing people on their feet, working with ALL the popular or major brands of tools.

Once you find there are no pictures, so you don't really know what you get to do, then sign-up for my 3-day class in February. My classes are ALL hands-on, no sitting, now looking at a wall at a power point slide while someone talks. Instead, what I do is put you by a real car, usually really COOL cars, show you the tool or whatever product goes with the topic, show you how to use it and then turn loose. I watch you and if you need help or correction I step-in and tweak your technique.

I'm working on a brand new thread that will have nothing but testimonies from people that took my class in 2019 - it's real people sharing their real experience. Some of who have taken other classes and then after seeing first-hand what I'm talking about, (sitting in chairs), signed-up for one of my classes.


There ain't no sitting in my classes, the below pictures are from just ONE of the tools I cover in my 2-day and 3-day classes.








All the different brands and/or types of tools gets their own 2 cars. The 2-day Roadshow classes churn through 10 cars in 2 days and the big 3-day classes here we churn through 12 to 15 cars.


If you learn best by sitting and listening to people talk by all means take any other class. If you learn best by DOING then sign-up for one of my classes.

Here's the link to the schedule I'm currently working on for 2020


2020 Detailing Class Schedule - Dates & Locations - Mike Phillips Autogeek


Sooner or later, everything in this world always works out the way it should.

[13razorbackfan]

Thanks guys for all the responses. I am going to look into the training classes and go from there. I certainly don't want to mess anybody's vehicles up and know how to do things properly.